Judges 21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Benjaminites Saved from Extinction
21 Now the Israelites had sworn at Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.”(A) 2 And the people came to Bethel and sat there until evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly.(B) 3 They said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, why has it come to pass that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” 4 On the next day, the people got up early and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being.(C) 5 Then the Israelites said, “Who out of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” For a solemn oath had been taken concerning whoever did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “That one shall be put to death.” 6 But the Israelites had compassion for Benjamin their kin and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. 7 What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters as wives?”(D)
8 Then they said, “Is there anyone from the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?” It turned out that no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp, to the assembly. 9 For when the roll was called among the people, not one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was there. 10 So the congregation sent twelve thousand soldiers there and commanded them, “Go, put the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead to the sword, including the women and the little ones. 11 This is what you shall do; every male and every woman who has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.”(E) 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man and brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
13 Then the whole congregation sent word to the Benjaminites who were at the rock of Rimmon and proclaimed peace to them.(F) 14 Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they did not suffice for them.
15 The people had compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.(G) 16 So the elders of the congregation said, “What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since there are no women left in Benjamin?” 17 And they said, “There must be heirs for the survivors of Benjamin, in order that a tribe may not be blotted out from Israel. 18 Yet we cannot give any of our daughters to them as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to Benjamin.”(H) 19 So they said, “Look, the yearly festival of the Lord is taking place at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem and south of Lebonah.”(I) 20 And they instructed the Benjaminites, saying, “Go and lie in wait in the vineyards 21 and watch; when the young women of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and each of you carry off a wife for himself from the young women of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin.(J) 22 Then if their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Be generous and allow us to have them, because we did not capture in battle a wife for each man. But neither did you incur guilt by giving your daughters to them.’ ”(K) 23 The Benjaminites did so; they took wives for each of them from the dancers whom they abducted. Then they went and returned to their territory and rebuilt the towns and lived in them.(L) 24 So the Israelites departed from there at that time by tribes and families, and they went out from there to their own territories.
25 In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.(M)
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Judges 21
International Standard Version
The Israelis Mourn the Tribe of Benjamin
21 Now the people of Israel had taken a vow in Mizpah that went like this: “Not even one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a descendant of Benjamin!” 2 So the people went to Bethel, sat before God until dusk, where they cried out loud and wept bitterly. 3 “Why, Lord God of Israel,” they asked him, “is one tribe missing[a] from Israel?”
4 The next day, the people got up early, built an altar, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. 5 The Israelis asked themselves, “Who didn’t come up in our assembly in the Lord’s presence from among all of the tribes of Israel?” They had taken a solemn oath concerning those who didn’t come up to meet with the Lord at Mizpah that “They will certainly be executed.”
6 But the Israelis were mourning for their relatives in the tribe of Benjamin. They announced, “One tribe has been eliminated from Israel today! 7 What can we do to find wives for the survivors who remain, since we’ve already taken an oath in the Lord’s presence not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?”
The Israelis Attempt to Mitigate Their Disaster
8 They asked, “What one group of the tribes of Israel didn’t come up to meet the Lord at Mizpah?” It turned out that no one had come to the encampment from Jabesh-gilead, 9 since when they took a census of the assembly, not even one of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead was in attendance. 10 So the congregation sent out 12,000 of their valiant soldiers, issuing these orders to them: “Go and attack the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with swords, including the women and little ones. 11 You’re to completely destroy every man and every married woman.”[b]
12 They discovered among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who hadn’t had sex with a man, and they brought them to the encampment at Shiloh in the territory of Canaan. 13 Then the entire congregation sent for the surviving[c] descendants of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon and assured them that their intentions toward them were peaceful.[d] 14 So the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin[e] returned at that time, and the Israelis[f] gave them the women whom they had kept alive from the raid on[g] Jabesh-gilead. Even so, there weren’t enough for them.
15 The people felt sorry for the tribe of Benjamin because the Lord had broken one of the tribes of Israel. 16 So the elders of the congregation asked, “What will we do to obtain wives for the survivors, since the women of Benjamin have been devastated?” 17 They continued, “Let’s make sure that there’s an inheritance for the survivors of the tribe of Benjamin, so that a tribe won’t be blotted out from Israel. 18 But we can’t give them wives from our own daughters, since we’ve[h] taken this vow: ‘May the Lord curse[i] anyone who gives his daughter as[j] a wife to the tribe of Benjamin!’”
19 So they concluded, “Look, there’s a festival to the Lord every year in Shiloh on the north side of Bethel, south of Lebonah and on the east side of the highway that runs from Bethel to Shechem…” 20 So they told the descendants of Benjamin, “Go and hide in the vineyards. 21 Watch when the unmarried women[k] from Shiloh come out to participate in the dances. Then come out of the vineyards and each of you grab a wife from the unmarried women[l] from Shiloh. Then go back home to the territory of Benjamin. 22 If their fathers or brothers come complaining to us, we’ll tell them ‘Be generous! Give them to us voluntarily, because we didn’t take anyone to be a wife for the men of the tribe of Benjamin[m] as a result of the battle. And you haven’t incurred guilt by giving your daughters to them.’”
23 So the descendants of Benjamin did all of this: they chose and carried away just enough wives from those who danced to meet the number needed, then they left to return to their inheritance, to rebuild their cities, and to live there. 24 The Israelis left there at that time, each man to his tribe and family, and each of them went down from there to his territorial allotment.
25 Back in those days, Israel didn’t yet have a king, so each person did whatever seemed right in his own opinion.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Judges 21:3 The Heb. lacks missing
- Judges 21:11 Lit. woman who has had sexual relations with a man
- Judges 21:13 The Heb. lacks surviving
- Judges 21:13 Lit. and proclaimed peace
- Judges 21:14 The Heb. lacks the survivors of the tribe of
- Judges 21:14 Lit. and they
- Judges 21:14 Lit. the women of
- Judges 21:18 Lit. since the Israelis had
- Judges 21:18 Lit. vow: ‘Cursed be
- Judges 21:18 The Heb. lacks his daughter as
- Judges 21:21 Lit. the daughters
- Judges 21:21 Lit. the daughters
- Judges 21:22 The Heb. lacks of the tribe of Benjamin
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